 Good afternoon, Pastor David. Hey, John. Welcome everybody to a random moment with Pastor David unfiltered and Want to say that our service yesterday Wednesday evening was an amazing service It was you always say this kind of like you're trying to keep your job. I think I'm trying to Kudos it doesn't work but what was really interesting is is as you're sharing on the gifts and and the word equipping Was used as mending and so the gifts that have been given to us by Jesus is for the For the purpose of mending broken hearts and so that was just an amazing study last night And then we shared communion. Yeah, and so a church family at you know on Tuesdays We talked more about current events and how that affects the church and on Thursdays. We speak more teasing out what pastor David's going to be sharing on on on Sunday and pastor on Sunday we've been going through the book of Mark and We just finished Talking about the importance of marriage the Pharisees presented a a debate to Jesus concerning divorce and so as Jesus was sharing with him Kind of the picture that's painted that these children come around he doesn't give us an exact age And they're the disciples Want to shoe them away and what I find interesting is here that is as as I'm looking at your notes is that The purpose of marriage is to have children who praise and worship God So pastor are you able to as we are drawing this out? Explain the importance of why the children where Jesus says no no no don't shoe more let them come to me And how that's connected to marriage. Yeah, well, you know Jesus it would seem interesting how that mark had Had Given his Incidents so just like you mentioned John just prior to the blessing of the children He's answering a question related to marriage and divorce and so there's an obvious Connection between the breakdown of a marriage and the and the harm it could do to the children And so there seems to be an obvious connection between the two and so the sanctity of marriage and its permanence and the intent of it Malachi tells us his God's intent was to produce godly offspring and so When a family breaks up then that that doesn't always destroy, but it sure surely hinders The possibility of raising children who love and fear the Lord and keep his commandments and all So it's interesting how mark Seems to have gone from one thing related to divorce and then brings it to the blessing of children and on Sunday, we'll try to show a little bit of a connection between those those two things and so yeah the the in the nation of Israel the idea of of children being a Heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward is a very a very important concept found in scripture God had brought man and woman together and he said be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and And so God's desire is for godly offspring for for children to be raised up With the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God so that they could take their faith and communicate it to generations to follow and so We'll be looking at that this upcoming This upcoming Sunday under the heading of God's value for for family God's value for children, especially and in light of the fact of AB 2223 and how that there are There's a California bill that has already begun to move through with with approval on the the actual Infanticide the ability to To allow a child to die or even to To somehow promote the death of a child after birth up to 28 days. I think that it's a It's an important subject to look at how God values Children and when when it says in Mark in chapter 10 verse 13 that they brought children To Jesus, you know young children to Jesus It's interesting one of the commentators was pointing out and I verified this they're doing simple research on it That mark chose to use a word that could speak of children toddlers even children five or six years of age and But that Luke used a Greek word that spoke of infants and so in Luke 18 it speaks of Them bringing infants to Jesus and in Mark chapter 10 verse 13 it speaks of them bringing children So it gives us the idea that they're from infancy into toddler hood or perhaps, you know four or five years of age at least and so the apostles as They're aware of Jesus's Determination to go to Jerusalem and he's on his way to the cross and they're aware That he's already shared with them of the events that are going to transpire his betrayal and and and all of that that we that Eventually results in in his death. Well, they're they're under the assumption. It appears That they should they should remove any pressures that may come upon him and so they get upset and they are trying to keep people from bringing children to Christ and and Mark makes it very clear that Jesus gets indignant and rebukes them and says don't hinder them because the kingdom of God is made Up of such as these so we'll be looking at that this upcoming Sunday in the importance of of Communicating our faith to future generations and as you just said a light bulb went off To bring our children to Christ. Yes. That's so important and and That's difficult when the when the marriage or the family is broken. Yes, and and it's a little the babies It's the children who are harmed, you know, it's interesting and you and I know this and just recently returning from Israel the the importance of the transmission of faith, especially during the time of Christ Where the children would be memorizing scripture five books of the Bible word for word You know because Joshua tells them to meditate on these things and therefore the parents took it with great urgency to to impart to their children to the degree that the the nation of Israel was the most literate nation in the ancient world because They were called the people of the book and even the Greeks recognized that the Jews valued the scriptures And I think it was Philo who said that they have received These divine words whom they believe which they believe come from God himself I mean even the Greeks recognize that during the time of the early history in Israel and so so yeah, the the parents took it with great great responsibility to Nurture the children in the ways of God and all and and if you're going to have a society that is righteous it's going to be a society that honors God and honors his word and The responsibility Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6 he he says that the fathers are the ones who raise up the children You know so yeah in an intact home with a father who loves God His influence is greater than than the mother's influence in especially as it relates to the things of faith And he's supposed to take the responsibility of Leading the home in in the ways of God and so we'll be looking again We'll be looking at some of that this upcoming Sunday And so we want to invite you guys to come out and join us at 8 30 and 10 45 this Sunday Invite your friends and family to come out and join us see good This is going to be a good study and as we hear more of The message that you're going to give to our congregation and then man also we have our men's barbecue next Friday Not this Friday, but the 29th we still have tickets available You can actually pick them up online or you can go to the gazebo after services and pick them up We're going to have a hull and Davis is our guest worship and we're going to have $5 hamburgers Well, you know what I have to be honest with you John And let me say this very briefly and then we'll cut But I believe that our men's ministry is a great ministry and I believe your leadership in that has proved to be very fruitful And I know that there are there are a few hundred guys that are already signed up to come You know so in a time when some churches don't even have men's ministry You know God has blessed us with your ministry and I say that honestly And I'm very blessed by and impressed by what God is doing through you with our men And so yeah, I would say it's not a $5 hamburger because it's not just a hamburger Right we're getting a drink and chips and this and that you know Where are you going to get a $5 burger like you were saying right you're not going to get it and they're good But it's much more than that It's a fellowship that these men need and if we're going to have men of God if we're going to have men Who are serving the Lord we need to give them a place to congregate and to be encouraged And so I believe that this kind of thing is especially important in these last days Especially for to lead our children absolutely, so well, thank you guys for tuning in. Thank you pastor David We look forward to seeing you guys on Sunday and men next Friday. God bless you. Amen